> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.notatechguy.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # MediaCrawler scrapes 7 Chinese apps, hits 67,000 GitHub stars - URL: https://www.notatechguy.com/mediacrawler-scrapes-7-chinese-apps-hits-67-000-github-stars/ - Published: 2026-10-25T23:13:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-25T23:13:17.000Z - Description: An open-source scraper for Xiaohongshu, Douyin and five other Chinese apps is trending on GitHub, but its own disclaimer clashes with its paid Pro - Author: Marcello Babbili - Tags: Technology & AI NanmiCoder, a Singapore-based developer who goes by 程序员阿江 online, has pushed his MediaCrawler scraper to 67,755 GitHub stars, picking up 102 new stars on the day it landed on the trending list [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com)[P⁵](https://github.com/NanmiCoder?ref=notatechguy.com). The Python tool harvests public posts and comments from seven of China's biggest social platforms, yet its own README bans commercial use while the same maintainers sell a paid Pro version [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). **My read:** The gap between the repo's "learning only" disclaimer and a subscription Pro tier is hard to miss. The free repo says don't use this commercially; the Pro version charges for exactly the features a commercial operator needs. The tool targets Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili, Weibo, Baidu Tieba, and Zhihu [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). All seven support keyword search, crawling by post ID, pulling nested secondary comments, targeting specific creator profiles, caching login sessions, routing through IP proxy pools, and generating comment word clouds [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com) — these capability claims come from the project's own README and have not been independently tested. Media downloads, covers, videos, and images work on five of the seven: Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili, and Weibo. Tieba and Zhihu lack media fields in their data structures, so downloads are off the table there [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). ### Playwright lets the tool skip each platform's signature encryption Every major Chinese platform signs its API requests with encryption parameters that are expensive to reverse-engineer. MediaCrawler avoids that fight entirely. It uses Playwright, a browser automation framework, to open a real Chrome window where the user logs in by hand [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). Once authenticated, the tool runs JavaScript expressions inside that live browser session to grab the signature parameters each platform expects, skipping the need to crack any site's encryption [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). By default it connects through Chrome DevTools Protocol to an existing Chrome installation, version 144 or newer, with a standard Playwright mode as a fallback [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). The project requires Node.js 16 or higher and recommends the uv Python package manager [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). ### Free repo bans commercial use while paid Pro sells commercial features The README carries a disclaimer stating the repository is for "learning and reference" only, prohibits commercial use, and disclaims all legal liability for anyone who runs it [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). The same maintainers offer MediaCrawlerPro, a paid subscription that adds the ability to resume interrupted crawls, run several accounts at once with proxy-pool routing, drop the Playwright dependency, and plug in AI agents [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com) — though these Pro features are described only on the maintainers' own page and have not been independently verified. The Pro version is not open-source [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). A brand analyst in Sydney tracking sentiment on Douyin could use the free version to pull public comments on a keyword. The moment they need to run multiple accounts or resume a crawl after a rate-limit block, they hit the paywall. ### Platform terms, not the README, govern actual use None of the seven platforms endorse the tool. The README specifies it targets public information only, not content behind authentication walls [S¹](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com). But the tool requires a real browser session with a real login, which means it operates under the user's own account on each platform. A marketing team considering it for Chinese-platform research should read the Terms of Service for each site before running a query, because automated collection, even of public data, typically violates those terms. An English README is available alongside the Chinese version [P²](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler/blob/main/README%5Fen.md?ref=notatechguy.com), and the maintainer's GitHub profile lists 55 public repositories and 3,083 followers [P⁵](https://github.com/NanmiCoder?ref=notatechguy.com). The repository's Discussions tab shows users asking about rate-limit ceilings and whether view counts can be scraped, questions that remain unanswered in the visible threads [P⁴](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler/discussions/categories/q-a?ref=notatechguy.com). --- *Sources: [S1 — NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler: 小红书笔记 | 评论爬虫、抖音视频 | 评论爬虫、快手视频 | 评论爬虫、B 站视频 ｜ ](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler?ref=notatechguy.com) · [P2 — README\_en.md](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler/blob/main/README%5Fen.md?ref=notatechguy.com) · [P3 — Trending repositories on GitHub today · GitHub](https://github.com/trending?ref=notatechguy.com) · [P4 — NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler Q A · Discussions · GitHub](https://github.com/NanmiCoder/MediaCrawler/discussions/categories/q-a?ref=notatechguy.com) · [P5 — 程序员阿江-Relakkes](https://github.com/NanmiCoder?ref=notatechguy.com)* --- *Written from 5 sourced items, 4 of them primary.* ![MediaCrawler platform coverage: features vs media downloads](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6e/89/6e896869-22ef-4281-a213-b4c462c17cff/content/images/2026/10/chart_72b66919ffe9ec7e73ec.png) ## More from Not A Tech Guy - [AI wildfire model maps Canada 806x faster](https://www.notatechguy.com/ai-wildfire-model-maps-canada-806x-faster/) - [OlmoEarth v1.3 covers Earth at 10m, no GPU required](https://www.notatechguy.com/olmoearth-v1-3-covers-earth-at-10m-no-gpu-required/) - [Herdr: terminal runtime keeps AI coding agents alive, 45k stars](https://www.notatechguy.com/herdr-terminal-runtime-keeps-ai-coding-agents-alive-45k-stars/)